Printing apparatus



March l2, 19140.v Hl p, ELLIOTT 2,193,064

PRINTING APPARATUS Filed April 14, 1939 TIT' Tlc' E: 6a/0.x V 6 f V ,96

` i y #1l/4 V1, y a0] /6 fici E 1056 98 X 7% ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 12,1940 UNITD STTES PATENT OFFlCE PRINTNG APPARATUS Application April 14,1939, Serial No. 267,770

l1 Claims.

This invention comprises certain further improvements on, or additionsto, that described and claimed in my Patent No. 2,134,815, granted Novl, 1938, embodying a statistical recording machine operating inconjunction with addressing apparatus employing card stencils, eachhaving an extensionv frame in which one or more holes has been punched,each in special position, as shown at til, et, in Fig. 8 of said patent.

Cooperating with said perforated extension of the frame of the cardstencil there are shown in said patent a multiplicity of reciprocatingpins yieldingly mounted and pressed upon said card frame extensionduring each address printing 15 operation so that the pin or pins thatregister with any of the above mentioned periorations in the card framewill be pushed through them and make holes at predetermined pointsthrough the paper on which a name and address are being simultaneouslyprinted, as shown in Fig. 9 of said patent.

In practical use of the patented invention I have found that to keep theconsumption of power in such paper periorating operation withincommercial limits the pin points must be so ne that the perforations arenot always easily seen by the user of the printed and perforated slip orsheet of paper, and to cure that difficulty I inserted an ink ribbonbetween the pin points and the paper on which the name and address werebeing printed, so that ink dots would then be formed thereon in place ofthe perforations originally produced therein. Such ink dots wereslightly larger, and otherwise more easily legible, than theperforaticns, but a new difliculty developed after a short period ofoperation. That is to say, the pin points which were most frequentlypressed against the ink-ribbon soon be came covered with ink which,during subsequent operations was transferred to certain of theunperforated areas in each stencil frame then being used, thus makingthe perforations in such stencil diicult to distinguish from the inkdots soon accumulated thereon. Furthermore, these ink accumulations onthe face oi' any stencil frame were soon oliset onto the backs of otherstencil frames pressed against themv in the storage or addressingmachine magazines, and when the stencils so marked on their backs wereused inthe addressing machine their accumulating ink dots were in turnoffset on the paper being printed, thus producing false markings thereonin addition to the proper ones made by the pins passing through theperforations in that stencil 5" frame then in printing position.

(Cl. lill-58) .According to the present invention, however, l haveovercome all these difficulties by adding another element to thecombination in the form of a thin sheet of rubber, or similar flexiblenonrecording inkprooi material, which is inserted 5 between the needlepoints and the ink ribbon, thus masking the needle points and keepingthem free from ink deposits. Also such added masking sheet tends tofurther magnify the area l oi each portion `oi the ink ribbon pressed bya pin-point against the paper being printed, and so to further enlargethe area of the ink dot formed on the paper and increase the legibilityof the record so produced. A further advantage oi this improvementresults from the rubber thus saving the ink ribbon (the most costlyelement of the combination) `from any destructive action of the sharppin points and so prolonging its useful life. Also a successfulink-ribbon-usirlg combination is operative on any kind of sheet or cardon which the record is to be formed, while the apparatus oi my PatentNo. 2,134,815 is, generally speaking, commercially usable only on fairlythin and easily perforated paper.

The best form of apparatus at present known to me embodying myinvention, together with one modification thereof, are illustrated inthe accompanying sheet of drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the portions of the apparatus forming theprinting zone, with other parts broken away or omitted, and issubstantially a copy of Fig. 4 of my said Patent 2,134,815, with theadditional features of my present invention added.

Fig. 2 is a detail vertical section of certain of the same parts andothers cooperating therewith, ail portionsthereof above the level ofsupporting plate ltd being shown as on a plane passing through line 2 2of Fig. l, with certain of the added features of my present inventionshown in side eievation and somewhat diagrammatically.

Figs 3 and 4 are enlarged details of the record printing pin mechanismwith exaggerated spacing showing the press parts in open positions inFig. 3 and in cioscd, printing positions in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 is a detail vertical section similar to Fig. 2 showing amodification, and

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross section of the rubber and ink-bearingelements taken on line @-6 of Fig. 5 with cooperating parts omitted.

Throughout the drawings like reference characters indicate like parts,and so far as possible the saine reference characters have been appliedto the same parts as in corresponding figures of Patent 2,134,815.

Briefly stated, the construction and mode of operations of the basicprinting and recordmaking mechanism, described in detail in said patent,are as follows: I6 indicates generally the card stencil having the panelI in which a name and address are cut. *I4 is a printed form on a sideextension of the frame comprising circles 18, certain of which have beenpunched out as indicated at 86. A series of these stencils are fed insuccession along guides It from right to left as indicated by the arrowsin Fig. l, to and through the printing zone in which inkcarrying rollplaten 24 carried by vertically swinging arms 26, Z, is alternatelypressed down on the stencil beneath and then lifted to permit another tocome into printing position and push out of it the preceding used one. Aplurality of pins HI8, with half round heads IIB are loosely supportedin perforated plates 9S and 83 over the stencil frame extension of anystencil in printing position., so Athat they register with circles 'I8on the latter and with any holes Si! therein. Upper plate gli isyeldingly supported by springs IGI? at a level such` that the points ofthe pins will not touch the stencil frame while the latter is movingbeneath them.

Parts of perforated plate 95 are shown broken away in Fig. 1 and thebodies of pins thereunder are indicated in cross section. Lowerperforated plate 88 is supported on straps 92 which straddle guides I 4.Plate 96 is guided on pins 98 which also retain springs Ill!) inposition.

Vibrating arms 2S, 26, also carry a rubber pad IM which, when platen 24is pressed down into address printing position, presses down on plate 96and pin heads I I B so as to yieldingly force them down toward saidstencil frame as indicated in Fig. 4. As there indicated, such pins .MIas register with holes 80 in said frame extension are then driventhrough such holes, while the movement of all other pins is stopped-suchstoppage being rendered possible by the surface of rubber pad II4bending around them.

Beneath the panel 'Ill of the stencil is a vertically swinging platen(not shown) cooperating l with ink carrying roll platen 24 to print aname and address on any slip of paper 82 which may have been placedunder the stencil and over said lower platen, which latter is not shownin Fig. 2 because an offset portion of the section plane passes behindit. Said lower platen is carried by vertically swinging arms 38 thereshown in cross section, and rises when ink bearing platen 2li is loweredto effect a printing operation. Between each such printing, arms 26 riseand arms 38 fall, thus opening the press andl allowing a fresh stencilto enter the printing zone. The arms 38 also carry a plate I 2lisupporting a rubber pad I2@ located beneath the extension of the frameof the stencil which is in printing position, and which is beneath thebank of pins IUS as before described. Such pad |20 therefore rises whensaid pins are pressed downward and the forward end of the piece of paper82 being printed then lies between and is seized by these two members ofthe record making mechanism. The apparatus so far described is the sameas that shown and described in my before mentioned Patent 2,134,815,except that it may be necessary to increase the extent of press openingto produce a Wide free space for the ink ribbon and rubber sheet andthus not have the former interfere with the feeding of the paper sheet82 into printing position on pad IZIJ.

The present invention, as before stated, cornprises the introductioninto the hereinbefore described patented combination of an ink ribbonsuch as shown at X which is held over the paper being printed, and aflexible ink-proof sheet such as a ribbon of thin rubber Y which is heldbetween the ink ribbon and the points of pins IBS. The rubber may beheld against the pin-points, but the ink ribbon must be held away frompad I2 when the press is open to permit the paper 82 to be shoved inbetween them into printing position, and also to prevent the face ofsuch pad being soon covered with ink. Preferably, also, ink and rubbersheets or ribbons should be movable between printing operations so thatagiven pin will not always be punching at the same points on each. Ihave shown, somewhat diagrammatically, two arrangements of supportspermitting such intermittent movements, a step-bystep roll or drum feedin Fig. 2, and a shiftable supporting frame in Figs. 5 and 6.

fn Fig. 2 ink ribbon X unwinds from spool I, which would preferably havefriction producing bearings, and passes over guides I5, l5, to take-uproll or spool il, which also would have tight journal bearings or someother device to prevent it being easily revolved backward. Said spool dcould be revolved step-by-step in a counterclockwise direction to slowlywind up the ink ribbon by any convenient step-by-step mechanism such asthe friction pawl I2 on lever II, connected by link I3 to lever -one endof which latter has a fixed slotted pivot bearing l, while the other endhas a pivotal connection at 6 to a support for pad I 20 carried by oneof the vibrating arms 38. Take-up spool 2 for the rubber ribbon Y would,as shown, similarly unwind it from spool 3 by operation of the similarfriction pawl mechanism 8, 9, Il). Rubber ribbon Y should be held awayfrom ink ribbon X by guides I'I, I'I, which are fast on the under facesof the stencil guides Ibi. While the printing press is closed, no ribbonfeeding action will then occur, but during the press opening period eachribbon will be slightly moved to the left by the friction ratchetfeeding devices above described. The ribbons will move differentdistances at each step because of differences in spool diameters and inspacing of the pivots for links I8 and I3 from the fulcrum of lever 5.

In Figs. 5 and 6 a sheet of rubber Y and of ink saturated fabric X areshown stretched together across the opening in a rectangular frame ISwhich is loosely supported by clips EI, 2|, fastened to the undersurfaces of the stencil guides It. The jar or vibration of the printingpress elements may cause this frame to move slightly at times while thepress is open, or the operator may be instructed to move it a little oneway or the other occasionally to shift the points on the rib-bonsurfaces at which the needle pressures will be applied.

The clips 2l nearest the operator are offset `so as to permit frame I9to be slid in and out between them. This is indicated in Fig. 6 by theabsence of cross hatching on the lefthand clip. This particular pair ofclips do not shownV in Fig. 5 because the plane of the section is behindthem.

During each printing operation the particular pins IDB which registerwith perforations B in the frame of any stencil I6 beneath it will passthrough such perforations, press rubber ribbon Y against ink ribbon Xand deposit spots of ink (transferred from the latter) on the paper 82-all as indicated in Fig. 4.

Various changes could be made in the details of the supports for ink andrubber ribbons, and in the printing press mechanism, without departingfrom the .substance of the invention, so long as the ink ribbon is heldover the surface on which printing is to be done, and a flexible septumimpervious to ink is supported between said ribbon and ,thereciprocating member periodically force a small area of said ribbonagainst said surface.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. In a recording mechanism comprising a plu- `rality of pins `normallyhaving their points lying in one and the same plane, a pad having itsface lying in an adjacent, parallel plane, and means for reciprocatingsaid pin points toward and from said pad face, the combination, withsaid mechanism, cf an ink ribbon located between said planes near saidpad face and a flexible, inkproof non-recording, masking sheet locatedbetween said pin points and said ink ribbon; whereby, when a sheet onwhich a record is to be made is inserted between said pad and said inkribbon and any of said pin points are pressed upon said flexible sheetso as to force portions of the ink ribbon against said inserted sheetand pad, inl; spots of .larger diameter than said pin points will `bedeposited on said sheet, but no ink will adhere to said pin points.

2l. in a recording mechanism comprising a plurality oi pins normallyhaving their points flexible, ink-proof non-recording, masking sheetlocated between said pin points and said ink ribbon; whereby, when asheet on which a record is to be made is inserted between said'pad faceand said ink ribbon and any of said pin points are pressed upon saidflexible sheet so as to force portions of the ink ribbon against saidinserted sheerl andlpad, ink spots of larger diameter than said pinpoints will be deposited on said sheet, but no ink will adhere to saidpin points.

3. A mechanism such as defined in claim 2 combined with means forshifting the position of said inl: ribbon between reciprocations of saidpins.

ll. A mechanism such as defined in claim 2 combined with means forshifting the position and pad combined with an open frame adapted i toslide in said guides and having said ink ribadapted to= bon andink-proof sheet both stretched across an opening therein.

`"i, 'in a combined address printing and record making apparatuscomprising a plurality of plates each having a uniformly located portionof its face provided with means for participating in the printing oi aparticular name and address and at least one perforation elsewherelocated, means for pressing an article to be printed and said plate onetoward the other and for supplying ink for a printing operation,mechanism for feeding said plates successively through the printing zonesc formed, a plurality of parallel, endwise reciprocable pins adapted tohave at least one of their points projected through such perforation insaid plate, and means for1 yieldingly pressing all said pin pointstoward said plate once vduring each printing operation, the combination,with said above dened apparatus, of an ink ribbon and means forsupporting it adjacent the perforated portion of said plate on the sidethereof opposite that on which said pins are located and between it andany article on which a name and address are being printed, togetherwliereby during each printing operation at leastv one spot ci will bedeposited on the article being printed at a point determined by thelocation of the perforation in the particular plate beingused, but noink will be deposited on any pin point.

8. An apparatus such as deined in claim '7 in which the support of atleast one of the last two elements, inlr ribbon and ink proof sheet, ismanually adjustable so as to shift it transversely oi the axes `of saidpins.

9. An apparatus such as deined in claim 'l combined with meansautomatically operable by a moving member of the printing apparatus forslightly shifting the position of said ink ribbon after each printingoperation so that any given pin point will not be repeatedly pressingsaid inkproof sheet on one and the same point on said ribbon surface.

l0. An apparatus such as defined in claim 7 combined with meansautomatically operable by a moving member of the printing apparatus forslightly shifting the position of said ink ribbon and said ink-proofsheet after each printing operation so that any given pin point will notbe repeatedly pressing one and the same portion of said ink-proof sheeton one and the same point on said ribbon surface.

ll. An apparatus such as dened in claim 7 combined with meansautomatically operable by a moving member of the printing apparatus forslightly shifting the position of` said ink ribbon and said ink-proofsheet different distances after each printing operation so that anygiven pin point will not be repeatedly pressing one and the same portionof said ink-proof sheet on one and the same point on said ribbonsurface.

HARMON P. ELLIOTT.

